Girl struck by vehicle recovering in Chapel Hill

Wednesday

May 8, 2013 at 11:28 AMMay 8, 2013 at 12:07 PM

"Next thing I know, I heard a noise and I see her and her bicycle in the air," Russ said.

By F.T. NortonFran.Norton@StarNewsOnline.com

Daisy Hearn was three days shy of her ninth birthday April 24 when she was struck by a car as she rode the bicycle her mother had given her as an early birthday present. She is still recovering at North Carolina Children’s Hospital, heavily medicated so that her body can heal from a fractured pelvis, fractured femur, bruised and collapsed lung, bruised right kidney and skull fracture. The Wilmington Preparatory Academy third-grader was out for a bike ride with her mom, 6-year-old sister and mom’s boyfriend, when she stopped near the intersection of St. Andrews Drive and 17th Street, her mother Sunshine Russ said. Russ said she expected Daisy to resume following her as she continued riding along the sidewalk toward their regular crossing spot about a block up. But she suspects her daughter wanted to ride parallel to her and race, so Daisy – described by her mom as dramatic, artistic, outgoing, intelligent, protective, and caring – crossed at St. Andrews. “Next thing I know, I heard a noise and I see her and her bicycle in the air,” Russ said. The accident report indicates Daisy made it safely across one lane of travel when she was struck by a northbound SUV driven by Sara Ludlum of Wilmington. Ludlum, 25, an evidence technician at the Wilmington Police Department, told police that just before the collision she was looking in her rearview mirror, and when she looked back at the road she saw Daisy in front of her. “She hit her brakes, but she knew she was going to hit the child,” the report states. Ludlum was not cited. She declined to comment when reached Tuesday. Daisy was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center, and then flown to Chapel Hill where she underwent surgeries, Russ said. Once she’s well enough, doctors will determine if more damage than just bruising was done to her spine. “They are saying that she should be as close to her old self as possible in about one year,” Russ said. “They’re not sure how much nerve damage she has right now (and) they will not know until they can get her off her sedatives, get her extubated and start working with her.”Russ, a single mother, has been by her battered daughter’s side since the wreck, buoyed by support from her parents and friends. “Between (my parents) and my boyfriend coming up here, they’ve all been giving me a little extra strength,” she said. Daisy is still on a breathing tube, and recently doctor’s put a halo on her to keep her head stable for the next three months. Because she’s heavily sedated, she’s rarely awake, but when she is, she mouths questions about her sister. “And she wants to know what happened,” Russ said.